Watch: Denzel Washington Addresses Those 'Black Panther 3' Rumors and Talks 'Gladiator II' Oscar BuzzDenzel Washington would like to reintroduce himself. While recently discussing his love of football and NFL players who share his name-including Cleveland Browns corner back Denzel Ward and two additional Denzels on the Arizona Cardinals-the Malcolm X actor joked that they were all named after him despite a major mispronunciation error. "My name is not actually pronounced Denzel," he told Jimmy Kimmel during a Sept.